Bird III, 2011

Vincent Champion-Ercoli  

Vincent Champion-Ercoli
Franco-Canadian sculptor, born in Maubeuge in 1974.
Lives and works in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, in the Laurentides region of Quebec, Canada.

All my sculptures are designed to one day be produced on a large scale, whether in a natural or urban environment. The small sculptures that develop during the creative process, like models, continue to live in private spaces around me, within reach. On a daily basis, they remind me of the emotion or feeling at the origin of each sculpture.

Almost all of my works are composed of several elements. Sometimes free and independent, they come together to give birth to sculpture. Others may be mobile, rocking back and forth in a slow, continuous rhythm, or capable of adopting different positions and/or having different ways of fitting together, such as Oxalis IV.
The base – most often a natural element, like a rock found randomly during a walk – is an integral part of the work. It is at the center of the different elements of the sculpture, which can be quite different depending on the chosen viewing angle.
Another recurring element in my work is what I call the “plan". From my first drawings until today, it appears in various forms: sometimes a plate, sometimes a ribbon... straight, folded, smooth or textured. Sometimes grouped, with sharp angles, sometimes natural and airy, with rounded curves...

From a more general point of view, the holding of my sculptures raised the question, from the start, of the best way to place them on the ground. This is an important question, which led me to abandon the pedestal very early on. My accessible sculptures are therefore positioned directly on the ground, finding their balance on a few points or edges, which gives their silhouettes a certain grace and lightness.

Finally, because I have to take all these different factors into account, designing a sculpture requires a lot of patience on my part. Preparation can take several weeks, even several years, sometimes with the fear that it will all come to nothing, given the complexity of the pieces, which explains the multiple dates indicated in certain photo captions. But I always find a solution by making other drawings, and especially by using a three-dimensional “drawing": the frame.

The result is, to my great satisfaction, often better than I expected. This fact gives me immense joy and the desire and courage to start all over again. I often find myself reworking my sculptures several years later, as if to remind myself that the creative process is fascinating and endless.